Springfield, police supervisors released from next round of litigation related to beating of Melvin Jones

Melvin Jones III, of Springfield, is suing the city of Springfield for civil rights violations and use of excessive force in the wake of his 2009 beating by former Springfield police officer Jeffrey Asher, right.

SPRINGFIELD - A federal judge excluded the city and its police supervisors from the next round of litigation related to the 2009 beating of a black motorist by former patrolman Jeffrey M. Asher, but signaled four officers could be in for a swift verdict and days of hearings on civil damages.

Asher – who is white and a 17-year-veteran of the police force – was convicted Feb. 28 of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in connection with bludgeoning a black motorist in the head and face with a metal flashlight during a traffic stop on Rifle Street, which was caught on amateur video by a neighbor.

Asher faces jail time at his sentencing in Chicopee District Court on March 28. But meanwhile, the motorist, Melvin Jones III, has sued the police and the city in federal court for civil rights violations and use of excessive force – exposing Asher, three other officers present and the city to a financial settlements since Jones was blinded in one eye and broken facial bones.

Officers Michael Sedergren and Theodore Triuolo also were named in the lawsuit as being at the stop along with Lt. John Bobianski. According to a transcript generated from the video presented at trial, unnamed officers screamed the n-word during the attack. Bobianski ordered Asher to stop hitting Jones, court filings state, but Asher continued to beat him with the flashlight.

Asher attempted to argue at trial that Jones went for a holstered gun during the struggle after the car he was a passenger in was pulled over. He said he hit Jones 18 times in self-defense. The jury rejected this argument and the video showed Jones simply tried to wheel away from officers’ grips when they had him prone on the hood of the car.

Public opinion was polarized over the issue when the video was made public because the apparent brutality of the incident was complicated by the fact that Jones had a criminal record and drugs in the car. Jones, 31, was released on bail and racked up additional charges including shoplifting and drug trafficking subsequent to the 2009 traffic stop.

He remains held on bail while the trafficking case is pending in Hampden Superior Court. The federal case was scheduled for trial starting May 14 until U.S. District Court Michael A. Ponsor delayed the date during a hearing on Tuesday, pending the outcome of opposing motions between the plaintiff and the city. Lawyers for Jones have been pushing a lengthy trial where both the police officers could be held culpable for financial damages along with the city. Jones’ lawyers have argued the city kept Asher on the force knowing he was a “ticking time bomb," with 12 suspensions for excessive force.

“That’s about a suspension every six months for excessive force,” said Shawn Allyn, a lawyer for Jones, who also noted Asher has been named in 23 lawsuits against the city, although the outcome of those suits have ranged from the recent criminal conviction to settlement to dismissal by a judge or jury. “His propensity toward violence has been directed largely at African Americans, but I don’t think race is his primary problem ... I think it’s use of excessive force.”

Because the U.S. Supreme Court set the bar high for municipalities to be held culpable for the behavior of a public employee, Ponsor on Tuesday separated Jones’ claims against the city from the plaintiff’s claims against the officers individually. The judge denied the city’s motion to dismiss the case altogether.

“This is what we wanted. The court proceeded in the best manner,” City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula said after the hearing, adding that the U.S. Supreme Court raised the threshold for municipal liability in police brutality cases in the late 1980s.

William C. Newman, director of the western Massachusetts chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union told Ponsor that even given the Supreme Court’s posture: “If there was ever a case where bifurcation would not be in order, I would suggest this is it.”

Exhibits in the court case show that two police chiefs prior to current Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet had concerns about Asher’s fitness for duty. Fitchet ultimately fired Asher in 2010, one day after Asher won a disability retirement by arguing he had Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome after serving in the first Gulf War and police work exacerbated the condition.

Ponsor pushed the May trial date off indefinitely, and said he could conceivably envision a scenario where he finds in favor of Jones against the police and moves directly to a damages hearing, which may include debate over how much is due for his injuries in addition to punitive damages as a rebuke to the city and police supervisors. Lawyers for the plaintiffs will argue in favor of that in U.S. District Court on April 19.